TMNT: Fairy Tale Twist, part three
by BBPRIMEFAN101
Summary: Spoof of Hansel and Gretel. The turtles are magically, and eerily, swept away, and they wake up in the same place, which is also a different place. A young, mysterious girl takes them to an inn, where the innkeeper takes care of them. But behind the goods and kindness lie darker, sinister secrets.


This is based off a dream I had.  
Summary: In this chapter, Kame and Miss Lahni prepare lunch for the mutant turtles; later, Donnie helps Camella learn how to read. And Leo somewhat eavesdrops on the two ladies and is stunned at what he hears. Kame discovers a dark secret.  
**I don't, and NEVER will, own anything TMNT related!**

Camella slowly awoke from a brief nap, yet she felt well-rested. She slipped out of her sheets and got up from her bed. Kame brushed herself off and headed out into the hallway. She decided to check in on their guests.

Peeking into each room, she found each turtle fast asleep in their beds, and she sweetly smiled. Kame noticed their rooms for the first time; they were exactly how she would have described each individual. Then she noticed a delightful smell coming from the kitchen. Someone was cooking other than her.

Silently racing down the stairs, she saw Miss Lahni at the stove stirring a wooden spoon into a large steaming pot. The decrepit woman turned to the child and smiled kindly. "Ahh, Camella. Have you rested well?"

"Miss Inn Keeper! You shouldn't have to do my work," Kame said as she made a b-line to the stove. "Here, let me take over."

Miss Lahni held up a bony hand. "Not until you answer my question, dear."

"O-Oh, yes," Kame bowed her head. "Uh...I have indeed rested well, Miss Inn Keeper. Thank you for asking."

The old woman laughed. "You are quite welcome, child. Now you may take over." She stepped away from the stove and allowed Camella to take her place. The girl glanced into the pot as she stirred.

"Mmm, this soup smells delicious, Miss Inn Keeper," she exclaimed. "Will this be served to our guests?"

"But of course it will be," Miss Lahni said. "Once the soup is finished, I would like you to wake them and summon them here to the kitchen."

Kame slightly paused on her stirring, and she turned her gaze to her Keeper. "Oh...but, should we rather let them rest a trifle bit longer? I mean, you saw the condition they were in, they must be very exhausted."

Lahni repeated still smiling, but spoke firmly, "Camella. When the soup is finished, summon the boys down to the kitchen. Understand?"

Kame's small smile fell as a wave of nausea flooded over her. She gulped and shivered at the way Lahni's eyes locked on to her. She stammered as she said, "Y-Yes, Miss Inn Keeper...O-Once the soup is done...I will summon our guests here to the kitchen. I am sorry to have spoken back instead of agreeing with you straight away."

The kindness in Miss Lahni's eyes returned. "There's a good girl." She dipped her finger into the soup and tasted it. "It needs a bit of garlic. Kame, you know where the garlic is, don't you?"

"Yes, Miss Inn Keeper," Kame nodded.

"Good, would you go and fetch some?"

Kame nodded before heading out of the kitchen and to a large door that led to the basement. As she unlocked it and stepped down the creaky stairs, an awful odor hit her like a freight train. But Miss Lahni always told her to never mind it, for it was possibly moss growing in from the walls. The basement was lined up with the stream by the cottage, after all. Reaching the floor, Camella raced to the condiments cabinet and found the garlic, and she raced back up the stairs; the stench was too overwhelming.

Closing the door, she entered the kitchen and held the shaker over the boiling pot, gave it four good shakes, stirred the concoction, and tasted it. She exclaimed in delight. "Miss Inn Keeper, do you think the boys will like it?"

Lahni came over and tasted the soup with added garlic, and she nodded. "Ooh, that is just delicious. Now, I will pour the soup into their bowls while you head on up and bring them back down."

"Yes, Miss Inn Keeper." Kame headed quietly up the stairs and turned down the hall of the turtles' rooms. She headed to Leonardo's room first and knocked on his door. "Leonardo?"

After a moment, Leo opened his door and drowsily looked out to see Kame standing before him. "Oh. Hello, Kame," he said with a yawn. "What is it?"

"I am sorry to have disturbed you," Kame explained, "but Miss Inn Keeper and I have prepared luncheon, and she requests that you and your brothers come and eat."

"Oh," Leo yawned again. "O-Of course." He and Kame awoke the rest of the turtles and guided them down the stairs into the kitchen.

Michelangelo sniffed the air and now fully awoke. "Mm-mm! Something smells good!"

"If you like it before having tasted it, then it must be delicious. Good afternoon boys," Miss Lahni said, pouring an even amount of soup into four bowls. "I am sorry to have disrupted your rest, but you must eat, I am sure you must be hungry still."

"It's no trouble," said Donnie as Kame helped them into their seats.

"And yes, I am still hungry," said Raph taking a spoon.

Kame carried a warm bowl to each turtle and eyed them scooping up a spoonful and placing it in their mouths. After a few seconds, they all exclaimed satisfyingly.

"This is the best soup I have ever tasted!" Leo said.

"I am glad you like it," said Miss Lahni.

"I am glad that I am eating this," Mikey said as he shoved one spoonful after another into his mouth.

"Oh, don't eat so fast, Michelangelo. If you consume something warm too quickly, you will get a stomachache," said Kame, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Oh. Sorry," Mikey said, and he ate slower.

"What kind of soup is this?" Raph asked.

"Oh, I am afraid I can't tell you," Miss Lahni sighed with a grin. "It's a bit of a family secret."

"Not even I know it," Kame pointed out.

"Well, whatever it is, it is awesome!" Raph said as he slurped his soup bowl clean. "Can I have seconds?"

"Oh, by all means," Miss Lahni said cheerfully, and she motioned Camella to pour Raphael a second serving. He joyously gulped it down.

Donatello diligently and mannerly sipped each spoonful and tasted each one, attempting to find out what kind of soup this was. "Oh, you won't discover what soup it is by taste testing," Miss Lahni told him. "It is my own homemade recipe, nothing else like it in the world." After a few more slurps, he eventually gave up on trying and enjoyed the rest of his lunch.

The boys had emptied the entire soup pot. While the others had two, Raph had three. "He is a growing boy," Miss Lahni said pinching his cheeks.

Then the red-clad turtle let out a groan and clutched his stomach. "Raph, are you alright?" Leo asked him, but Raph's reply was only a moan.

Miss Lahni clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I believe someone has eaten too much soup, and has eaten it too quickly. But not to worry. I have the medicine that immediately takes care of that. Camella, would you mind fetching it?"

"Yes, Miss Inn Keeper," Kame said, and she sped-walked to the medicine cabinet and returned with a bottle filled with cherry-red syrup. "Here you are, Miss Inn Keeper." Miss Lahni then dripped four drops of the medicine into a cup of goat's milk, stirred it and handed it to Raphael.

"This will make me feel better?" he asked dully.

"Indeed it will," Kame said. "Just ignore the slight bitter taste. Think of it as strawberry milk, and it will go down with ease."

Raph could smell the bitterness of the medicine in the milk and he gagged. He plugged his nose and gulped down the medicine. Within minutes, he was feeling better. "Wow...that stuff really works. Thanks, Miss Lahni!"

"You are quite welcome dear. I would not dare let a guest feel so horrible in my house," Miss Lahni patted his head. "Now, is there anything else that Camella and I can do for you boys?"

"None that I can think of," said Leo, his brothers agreeing.

"Oh, very well. Let us know when you need anything," Miss Lahni said. "Now, Camella, be a dear and clean the kitchen up while I escort the boys back upstairs. They still seem a bit exhausted. And once you finish, you may help yourself to some food."

"Yes, Miss Inn Keeper. And thank you," Kame nodded slowly and rinsed each of the turtles' soup bowls and the large soup pot. Once she scrubbed the bowls and pot spotless and stowed them away in the proper cabinet, she had made herself a small plateful of carrots, bread and a glass of goat's milk.

"Now, you boys get all the rest you need until supper. That is when I will awake you once more. Understood?" said Miss Lahni.

"Yes, Miss Lahni," the turtles said in unison, and they all entered their rooms where they fell instantly back to sleep with full stomachs. Lahni kissed each of them on their foreheads and left them to rest.

* * *

The guys had awoken before supper was even ready, and had requested they got some fresh air and went for a walk outside around the cottage.

Meanwhile, Camella was instructed to help freshen up their rooms by making their beds, organizing things, picking things up off of the floor. She saw comics everywhere in Michelangelo's room and organized them alphabetically. Kame noticed in Raphael's room Spike was not in his little bed, so she assumed Raph took him along their walk. She remade Leo's bed, and she placed Donnie's books back on their proper shelf.

She couldn't help but notice a fiction book half opened on his bed. She couldn't read the title, or any of the words on the page, but she saw on the cover a beautiful woman dancing in a castle with a large monster. She found it interesting and sat down on the floor, trying to sound out the words on the page.

* * *

"Hey, Raph," said Mikey as they headed into the woods, "I noticed you don't have Spike."

Raph shrugged. "Yeah, Spike seems a little sick today, so I let him sleep in."

"Guys, we need to focus on how to get out of here," Leo said.

"I guess we go back the way we came," Donnie suggested.

"Which was where, exactly?" Raph said. "We got washed away in a tidal wave, remember, genius? Or maybe you still think that never happened."

Donatello just rolled his eyes and ignored his brother's mock. "Such things aren't empirically possible, Raphael."

"Ugh, stop saying big words. My head hurts enough from that stupid medicine," Raph grumbled.

"Miss Lahni did say the main side effect would be a migraine," said Leo. "Would you rather feel like vomiting or have a tiny migraine?"

Raph muttered under his breath and rubbed his head. "Let's just head back. This humidity isn't helping me at all." They all turned back and headed into their rooms. Leo went into his room to meditate to find his bed neatly made. Mikey enters his room to find all his comic books organized. Raph entered his room to find his bed neatly made, his weights back on the rack. Donnie entered his room to find all of his books back on their shelves, and noticed Kame trying to read out of the book he read before he left.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned.

"Oh, D-Donatello! You're...back from your walk, so soon," Kame stammered. "I-I expected you to be a bit longer...I-I apologize, I should not be here." She carefully stepped by him and left his room.

"It's alright, Camella," he said sweetly.

"No it isn't," she replied. "Miss Inn Keeper always told me to keep out of others' business, and I have done yours."

Donnie shook his head and smiled. "It's alright, really...I could teach you to read, if you want."

Camella slowly turned around. "You...you'd teach me...to read?" she asked just as slow.

Donnie nodded and held out his hand. Kame accepted it and followed him into his room where they sat comfortably in his new bed. "Okay," he said, "let's start from the beginning." He flipped to the very first page of the book and pointed to the first word in the first sentence. "Try to sound that out, Kame."

Kame studied the word: O-N-C-E. "Oh-nce."

Donnie chuckled. "It's actually 'once'."

"Once," Kame repeated.

"That's it," Donnie smiled. "Now, try your best to say the sentence."

Kame nodded and frowned at the sentence. "...Wuh-Once...uh-pawn-upon? a ti-tiiiime...they-therrre w-wuh-as...was? a prrrince hoo-who lllived in a shiiining cast-le."

"Very good, Camella. And it's just castle, not cast-le. Imagine the T not being there," Donnie explained.

She nodded and tried reading the next sentence. After a while, she wore herself out trying to read each word, so Don ended up reading it to her. She was half asleep by the time he reached the end. "That was a great story," she said. "What's called?"

Donatello read the title aloud: "Beauty and the Beast."

* * *

Supper came around a lot quicker than expected. Miss Lahni saw how much the turtles enjoyed her soup, so she made them some more; with the help of Camella, that is.

"Now, remember boys, do not eat it too quickly, and do not consume too much," Miss Lahni warned them.

"Don't worry, I learned my lesson," Raph chuckled as he sipped his soup. "Mm-mm! It's still good the second time around!" He and his brothers slurped their soup bowls clean and this time each only had two servings.

"You must really love that soup," said Kame. They responded by nodding; their mouths were full. She took their plates, rinsed them under the running faucet, scrubbed them with a sudsy rag, hand-dried them and stowed them into the proper cabinet, and had done the same with the soup pot.

"There, now. Tummies all full, boys?" Miss Lahni asked. They nodded.

"Believe me," Mikey laughed as he patted his stomach, "I am good for the night!"

"Very well. Camella, please escort the boys up to their rooms so they may continue to recuperate," said Miss Lahni. "And once you are done, please continue to clean the attic space, and fetch me my best book to read tonight."

"Yes, Miss Inn Keeper," Kame said as she took the turtles by the hand and led them upstairs.

"Man, she's really wearing you out," Leo mumbled.

Camella frowned. "It does not matter how much hard labor she presses upon me; the fact is she gave me a roof to live under, a bed to sleep on, and put food in my stomach. I am pleased to do as she wishes to show my thanks."

Leonardo just blinked. "I-I didn't mean to offend you or show disrespect."

Kame led them to the top of the stairs and slightly smiled. "It is alright...You boys rest well, and let me know if you need anything." She pulled down the ladder that led up to the attic and slowly climbed up into it. Leo curiously watched her.

"Do you need a light or something?" asked Donatello.

"Oh, no thank you. I can see quite well in the darkness," she replied as she slipped into the shadows.

The mutants exchanged glances. "Let's not wear her out, guys," said Leo. "She has done so much already." Then they all disappeared back in their rooms, but Leo kept his door open.

Once Camella finished cleaning the attic, and stopped sneezing her brains out, she crept down the ladder, brushed herself off, and tip-toed down the stairs. Leonardo poked his head outside, and eyed her. "Why is she moving so slowly?" he asked himself. His curiosity got the best of him, and he followed her.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Kame browsing through a book shelf, selected one, and headed towards two large doors with a strange lime green light illuminating from under it. She opened those doors and shut them behind her. He went into ninja-stealth mode and went up to the door, pressing his ear up against it.

"Here is your book, Miss Inn Keeper," Camella said, weakly handing her Keeper the selected book.

"Ahh! Thank you, Camella-wait, why are you so weak? I have noticed you becoming a bit slow," Miss Lahni frowned. Kame was quivering a bit, and seemed to hunch over. "Oh, dear. The spell must be wearing off, isn't it?"

Leo's eyes widened. Spell?

Lahni scanned through many jars and bottles on her shelves, reached out to one and handed it to Kame. "Here, love. This should do the trick and freshen you up."

Leo watched flabbergasted Kame drank the concoction, and within seconds, she felt refreshed, recharged; she stood up straight and bowed her head quickly. "Thank you, Miss Inn Keeper. Is there anything else you'd like for me to do?"

"...Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Lahni smiled. "I need you to fetch my three best spices from the basement. I am planning a bit of a surprise."

"Certainly, Miss Inn Keeper," Kame said as she headed for the door. Leo panicked and propped himself up on the ceiling under a cob web, soon Kame stood directly under him. He tried not to make a sound, but the strand of cob web tickling his nose wasn't helping.

"Miss Camella! You do remember what they are, correct?" Lahni called.

"Cinnamon, garlic, and salt," Kame replied, then she shut the doors and ran down to the basement. Leo jumped down to the floor quietly, unable to repress the sneeze any longer.

Where she stood, Kame froze. She turned around but saw no one there, so she continued down the basement stairs, ignoring the awful odor.

Leo dashed up the stairs and gathered his brothers. "What's all this about?" asked Mikey.

"Kame is bewitched!" Leo exclaimed quietly.

His brothers blinked before laughing.

"Are you crazy?!" Raph said.

"No, I'm serious," Leo retorted. "You know how she's been moving so slow lately? I saw Lahni give her some potion, and she was back to being zippity quick!"

Mikey giggled. "Zippity quick."

"I'm being serious," Leo frowned.

"Leo, it was probably just some medicine, like the one Raph took," said Donnie. "It must work fast to enhance Camella's speed. Besides, there is no such thing as black magic."

"W-What about that water ride we had just yesterday?!"

"That, I'll admit I can't explain. But Leo, Kame is not bewitched, and Miss Lahni is certainly not a witch," Donnie chuckled.

Down in the basement, Kame gathered the cinnamon, the garlic and the salt, and tucked each shaker under one arm. There is suddenly a thump coming from a cabinet on the other side of the basement. Kame cautiously approached it, the odor somewhat strongest in this general area. She opened the cabinet and gasped.

Backing away, dropping the spices, running up the stairs, she shrieked bloody murder.


End file.
